A step in the right direction, says Sammy

West Indies captain Darren Sammy dedicated his side's World Twenty20 triumph to the fans back home and said the win is a step in the "right direction" and a start for many more good things to come for the group of nations.

Throughout this edition of the World T20, West Indies have been inspirational in their performance and they played in the same manner to clinch their first title win of an ICC event in eight years by defeating Sri Lanka by 36 runs at Colombo.

"Thank you to everyone who supported us. The tournament is for the fans. The Caribbean people wanted this. This moment we're going to live forever. We went through a lot in the last two years," Sammy said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

"I can't say we are back but this is a step in the right direction," he said.

"The mission was to win the T20 World cup, the belief we left the Caribbean with has pulled us through. Today we were down and out but our never-say-die attitude came out."

Sammy said the Windies side have been doing well in the last couple of years but did not have the results to show for it until this win.

"For the last two years we've shown the never-say-die attitude, but we haven't had the results. There's a special gentleman in the stand called Peter Matthews, he's supported us through rain and sun, he's the happiest man right now.

"The love we felt from the Sri Lankan people is tremendous and we want to thank them for that."

Marlon Samuels came up with a brilliant counter-attacking 78 which was the main reason for West Indies' triumph.

Speaking about Samuels, Sammy said: "He has been wonderful since he came back. I hope he keeps doing the good work in the coming days. The two years he missed, two years of international runs. He's scored so much since he's been back."

On big-hitting Chris Gayle, Sammy said, "Chris is always a plus. It is always good to have him in the team and see him enjoying the game with his pals. We have a lot of respect for him in the dressing room."